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was 23 years of age, and we find she lived apart from petitioner
in 1995. She received wages in the amount of $14,697. She filed
an income tax return for the 1995 tax year wherein she claimed a
personal exemption for herself and a dependency exemption
deduction for a child whom she classified as a "stepdaughter".
Mariatu was not a full-time student as defined by section
151(c)(4) and received wages in excess of the exemption amount
for 1995. Respondent is sustained on this issue.
2. Filing Status
The second issue for decision is whether petitioner is
entitled to head-of-household filing status for the 1995 and 1996
tax years. In order to qualify for head-of-household filing
status, petitioner must satisfy the requirements of section 2(b).
Pursuant to that section, and as relevant herein, an individual
must not be married at the close of the taxable year and must
either maintain as his home a household which constitutes for
more than one-half of such taxable year the principal place of
abode of (1) a child of the taxpayer, or (2) any other person who
is a dependent of the taxpayer, if the taxpayer is entitled to a
deduction for the taxable year for such person under section 151.
See sec. 2(b)(1)(A); Perez v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1998-442.
Petitioner's daughter, Mariatu, did not reside with
petitioner during 1995 or 1996. We have also previously held
that petitioner is not entitled to the claimed dependency
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